Technical Field
The present invention relates to a vehicle side section structure.
Related Art
Japanese Patent No. 3525890 describes a center pillar in which a closed cross-section is formed by an outer panel and an inner panel, reinforcement with a hat shaped cross-section is provided between the outer panel and the inner panel, and foamed filler material is filled between the outer panel and the reinforcement. Viewed in the vehicle up-down direction, the foamed filler material is filled at the vehicle width direction outside of a ridgeline of the reinforcement.
However, in the case of the prior art of Japanese Patent No. 3525890 described above, since the filler material is filled at the vehicle width direction outside of the ridgeline of the reinforcement, the ridgeline of the reinforcement is disposed further toward the vehicle width direction inside than in configurations that do not include the filler material. The cross-section height of a lateral cross-section formed by the inner panel and the reinforcement is thereby shortened due to the ridgeline being disposed further toward the vehicle width direction inside. There is accordingly is a possibility that the moment (of resistance) at which the ridgeline buckles in a side-impact collision (hereinafter referred to as “in a side-on collision”) is reduced and strength is decreased. In other words, there is room to improve the strength of the center pillar in configurations in which filler material is employed in the center pillar.